Improvement in machines for making skirt-facings



F. e. BURLEY.

MACHINES FOR MAKING SKIRT FACINGS.

No.174,895. Patented March 21,1876.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN G. BURLEY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT lN MACHINES FOR MAKING SKIRT-FACIN'GS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 174,895, dated March 21, 1876; application filed July 23, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN G. BURLEY, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in the Art of Manufacturing Skirt-Facings, of which the following is a specification 5 Up to the time of my invention skirt-facings were always made by hand, andduring the manufacture of the skirts for which each was intended, so far as I have any knowledge; and the main object of my invention is to furnish a strip of skirt-facings ready for application, when out to the desired length, as an article of trade, and also to furnish skirt-facings which are much more uniform than those made by hand.

Skirt-facings are usually made from strips out across the goods, as the warp in all material suitable for skirt-facings is heavier than the filling, and it is very desirable that the lengthwise threads of a skirt-facing shall be, lighter than the crosswise threads. In the great bulk of hand-made skirt-facings each complete facing is made up of a number of strips, each about a yard longthat is, each as long as the width of the goods.

In making my first quality strips I use a cloth manufactured for that especial purpose, in which the filling is heavier than the warp, and thus am enabled to make a long strip con taining a series of skirt-facings, in which the crosswise threads are heavier than the lengthwise threads.

In hand-made facings the short strips are sewed together endwise to give the proper length, and the edge is then turned over; the

facing is then sewed to the dress, and afterward notched.

In the drawings an apparatus is shown which is the best form of apparatus known to me for carrying out my invention, and which is itself new with me in the respect belownamed. A represents a folder, by means of which the two edges of the strip of cloth B are folded. This folder is double, as that is the best form of my invention, but it is obvious that a single folder folding one edge is the same in principle; but in that case only one strip of facing will be made, unless the cloth be doubled. 0 C are rollers which serve to press the folded edges, and D is a knife by which the strip is divided, as shown, into two strips, B. Each half of the strip is a series of complete skirt-facings. This strip, long enough iOl several skirt-facings, folded on one edge and serrated or scalloped on the other, is one part of my invention. The method of manufacturing it-namely, by taking a strip of the material, folding both its'edges, and then dividing it in the middle by a line which forms the serrationsconstitutes a second part of my invention. The-combination of the folder pressure-rolls and the knife with a zigzag edge constitutes a third part of my invention.

The other parts of my invention relate to details of the construction of my apparatus. These details of construction are, first, that the -folder is so set in relation to the rolls as to bring the folded edges of the strip in contact with one of the rolls, at some distance from. the point where the strip is griped between thetwo rolls; and, secondly, that the rolls are so mounted that they can yield to any lump orthe like in the material.

The folder is so mounted in ways that it can be moved away from the rolls, which is desirable when a new strip is put in. The bearings of the roll 0 are in the lever E, and this lever isheld down by the spring a, and nut b. The inclination of the folding mechanism in relation to the rolls, as shown in the drawings, has the effect to bring a very much larger surfacecontact between the strip of cloth and the roll than in any other apparatus known to me, in all of which the folding mechanism is at rightangles to the standards which support the rolls.

For convenience in inserting the strip its end is narrowed, as shown in Fig. 3. The strips, as usually made by me, are from six to eighteen inches wide and about thirty-five yards long.

I amaware that skirt-facings with the crosswise threads heavier than the lengthwise threads are well known; but'all such skirtfacings heretofore known have been made up of a number of pieces sewed together at their ends-that is, from strips cut crosswise of the cloth. I do not claim such an article, which differs from mine in that mine is not composed of a series of strips sewed together at their ends,.bnt ot' a single strip. All other complete t'acings which had the crosswise threads heavier than the lengthwise threads had also a series of crosswise seamsfrom four to eight, depending upon the width of the cloth and the fullness of the skirtwhile in my skirt-facing there is no crosswise seam until this facing is on the dress.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The improved skirt-facing strip B, with its crosswise threads heavier than its lengthwise threads, without crosswise seams, folded on one edge and serrated on the other, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the folder A, pressure-rollers O G, and zigzag knife D, substanrinlly as described.

both edges of the cloth, and dividing it into two strips by a zigzag cut, substantially as set forth F. G, BURLEY.

Witnesses:

J. E. MAYNADIER, J. E. KNOX. 

